Chapter 496 All the chess games were overshadowed by the brilliance of those fifty moves!

On the other side.

Yu Shao walked to table number one and looked at the chessboard.

In this game, Jiang Han'en played black, and Jing Zhongqin played white.

Overall, Black has a better position. Although White has launched a counterattack in the lower left corner, there is not much room for maneuver left after more than 170 moves have been played.

So even if White manages to turn the tide by utilizing the lower left corner, the outcome will still depend on whether Black gives White an opportunity in the endgame.

"It seems like Jiang Han'en will win."

After observing a few more moves, Yu Shao formed a judgment about the game.

If White manages to capitalize on Black's cut in the lower left corner and makes some progress, the outcome will be uncertain and will depend on the endgame. However, Jing Zhongqin played a "long" move instead of a "point" move, leaving White with no chance.

Although the extension seems good, it is actually a matter of first moving forward and then moving in the middle. While the extension can force Black to respond, White lacks follow-up moves and will eventually be forced to make up for itself.

After this back and forth, White was forced to reinforce its position, and thus lost the initiative.

"Better to lose a piece than to lose the initiative" is a timeless truth even in the era of Go AI. Once you lose the initiative, White naturally has no chance to turn the game around.

Although Yu Shao has never played against Jing Zhongqin, he had already fallen into the loser's bracket early in the world championships and survived the most brutal battles to this day. Therefore, Yu Shao probably had an estimate of Jing Zhongqin's chess strength.

Most players might not be able to discern that the move "Chang" was a false first move, but given Inoue's skill level, she shouldn't have missed it. However, the result was that Inoue ultimately failed to make the move.

"He's probably exhausted from the tough battles in the losers' bracket these past few days, while Jiang Han'en has only just fallen into the losers' bracket and is still very motivated," Yu Shao thought to himself.

Although the winners' bracket is a match between players who have never lost, he does not deny that the losers' bracket is actually more difficult to play than the winners' bracket. Often, the games in the winners' bracket are not as difficult as those in the losers' bracket.

Ultimately, the way people think and the way they play chess are completely different between those who have a way out and those who don't. This is why there are very few examples of chess players who fall into the loser's bracket too early and eventually win the championship.

After looking at a few more moves, Yu Shao turned his gaze away from the chessboard and walked towards table number two, where Su Yiming and Honinbo Shingo were playing.

Soon, Yu Shao arrived in the crowd and turned his gaze toward the chessboard.

Yu Shao gazed at the chessboard, calculating the current score.

This game of chess has reached its end.

After the mid-game battle ended, the territories controlled by both sides had been roughly demarcated, so there was no need to assess the situation anymore; all that was needed was to calculate the score.

"If we include the komi for Black, the score is about the same for both sides... The outcome will depend on the two sides' struggle for the border territory that has not yet been definitively claimed?"

Yu Shao was somewhat surprised, considering that Su Yiming had fallen into the loser's bracket in the second round!

Although Honinbo Shingo has also fallen to the losers' bracket for two rounds, it is well known that Honinbo Shingo is famous for his extraordinary composure when playing Go and his exceptionally stable performance. The story of him playing Go during an earthquake when he was young is still a great anecdote in the Go world.

When playing Go with Honinbo Shingo, Yu Shao noticed that Honinbo Shingo was completely absorbed in the game, almost unaffected by external factors, and not swayed by pressure, emotions, or anything unrelated to the game. Even his fatigue seemed to be lessened.

It can be said that he is a typical tournament player, especially in tournaments like this one where the game is played one game at a time. In such a match where the winner is determined by a single game, Honinbo Shingo might not perform well, but in a tournament, he is invincible and gets stronger as the game progresses.

It wasn't that Honinbo Shingo became stronger; he simply didn't change. On the other hand, the others became weaker after many rounds of fierce battles.

Yu Shao also believes that this may be an important reason why Honinbo Shinho's performance in the World Championships is often better than that of Chuang Wei-sheng.

This is an exceptionally outstanding quality. When playing chess, although he is extremely focused and not easily affected by external factors, he is still occasionally affected by internal factors, such as feeling pressure when he is in a tough battle.

Therefore, Yu Shao originally thought that Su Yiming would have a hard time in this round, and might even lose if he encountered Honinbo Shingo. However, he did not expect that Su Yiming and Honinbo Shingo would enter the endgame almost evenly!

clatter.

clatter.

clatter.

As more pieces are placed, the number of available spaces on the board decreases, and the dividing line between black and white becomes increasingly clear.

"The official's hand movements were flawless."

Yu Shao watched the endgame battle with increasing focus.

Although he and Su Yiming had competed in endgame battles, he didn't really know much about Su Yiming's endgame abilities; he only knew that Su Yiming's finishing skills were quite good.

Because in those games between him and Su Yiming, the endgame was often reached when he had the advantage, and his endgame skills were unmatched even in his previous life.

Therefore, given his advantageous position, Yu Shao never felt any pressure from Su Yiming in the endgame.

In games between Su Yiming and other players, if there is an endgame phase, it is often Su Yiming who has a slight advantage when the endgame begins.

Therefore, Yu Shao was not able to accurately judge Su Yiming's endgame skills from his games against others, and could only conclude that Su Yiming's endgame skills were not bad.

"In the endgame, a slight misstep can lead to total defeat. Although the scope of the struggle has narrowed, the gains from each move are significantly different. If the order of priority is not properly managed, the outcome can be reversed."

"Therefore, the endgame is the ultimate test of a player's precision and patience."

“Players like Honinbo Shingo have a significant advantage in the endgame, and Su Yiming has already gone through many fierce battles in the losers' bracket, so he shouldn’t be a match for Honinbo Shingo.”

Even Yu Shao was somewhat taken aback as the chess pieces continued to fall.

"As it turns out, the order of the sharp move and the poking move was quite ingenious, and the judgment was extremely accurate. Now, Black has not only not fallen into a disadvantageous position, but has taken the initiative!"

"Even when facing complex endgame situations, Black began to employ tactical principles such as 'seizing the initiative' and 'accepting compromise' to maintain the advantage!"

Da, da, da.

The chess pieces kept falling.

finally.

After completing all the major endgame moves and a few minor endgame moves, Honinbo had a clear vision of the future and stopped making any more moves.

We lost.

he……

We lost by half a point.

Even if we finish the endgame and single-point moves, we can't catch up now. So the outcome of this game is already decided. Continuing to play is meaningless and just a waste of time for both of us.

Honinbo Shingo slowly exhaled, finally bowing his head to Su Yiming and saying, "I lost."

Seeing this scene, the people around were immediately filled with emotion and could not remain calm.

Honinbo Shingo lost.

He has already lost one game, and this is the second, which means that Honinbo Shinho has no chance left.

In this round, Honinbo—

disuse!

Upon seeing Honinbo Shingo Tokushi, Su Yiming couldn't help but let out a long sigh of relief and bowed his head, saying, "Thank you for your guidance."

Thank you for your guidance.

Honinbo Shinkyo bowed in return.

That game is over. Now, only the game between Jiang Han'en and Jing Zhongqin remains in the entire competition, but it is estimated that it will be over soon as well.

Soon, Su Yiming finished tidying up the chess pieces and stood up. He then noticed Yu Shao in the crowd.

Su Yiming was slightly taken aback, but quickly realized what he meant and looked at Yu Shao, asking, "Is your game of chess already over?"

"Um."

Upon hearing this, Yu Shao finally turned his gaze away from the now empty chessboard, looked at Su Yiming, nodded slightly, and replied, "I won."

Upon hearing this, Su Yiming opened his mouth, but ultimately said nothing, only nodding.

Just then, a commotion arose from the crowd surrounding table number one in the losers' bracket not far away.

Yu Shao and Su Yiming simultaneously turned their heads toward table number one in the losers' bracket. They saw Jing Zhongqin sitting in her seat, her face covered in sweat and pale, looking somewhat dejected, while Jiang Han'en across from her looked relieved.

Clearly, the final set of the match had come to an end.

Judging from the way the two looked at the moment, Yu Shao felt that the final result of this game should not be unexpected, and Jiang Han'en would most likely win.

Celery in the Well, eliminated!

Jiang Han'en advances!

The once quiet competition venue suddenly became noisy, as if a switch had been flipped. During the competition, everyone had to remain quiet and could not freely express their emotions. Now that the competition was over, they could finally let loose without any more inhibitions!

"It's over. Yu Shao is the winner of the winners' bracket. The players who will advance from the losers' bracket are Su Yiming and Jiang Han'en, and of course, there's also Teacher An Hongshi!"

"Jiang Han'en, 10-dan, that move was absolutely brilliant; it completely cut off White's path to survival!"

"This is nothing. You didn't see the game between Yu Shao and Araki-sensei. That was truly unprecedented and unparalleled!"

"Is it really that exaggerated?"

Everyone was red-faced and excitedly discussing the three games of chess. Many people didn't care whether others had seen the games they were interested in or not, and they started talking as soon as they opened their mouths, unable to hold back their opinions!

Finally, after a while, Zhao Zhengyang walked onto the stage, coughed lightly into the microphone, and the entire competition venue finally returned to silence, but some people whispered among themselves.

"Quiet down!"

Left with no other choice, Zhao Zhengyang emphasized the same point to the competition venue again, and then said, "Today's three-table competition has ended. Now I will announce the list of players who have qualified."

Upon hearing this, the audience finally calmed down completely.

Seeing this, Zhao Zhengyang took a deep breath and said, "In this round, the player who advances from the winners' bracket is Yu Shao!"

"The players who advanced from the losers' bracket are Su Yiming, Jiang Han'en, and Teacher An Hongshi!"

After Zhao Zhengyang finished speaking, thunderous applause erupted from the audience. Everyone's applause was heartfelt, regardless of victory or defeat, simply to express their gratitude to the six chess players and the three games they had played.

Every game was spectacular, and even now they can still recall how the pieces were placed, and they can almost hear the crisp sound of each piece being placed.

"The winners can take a good rest for the next two days to prepare for the Phoenix Cup World Championship finals the day after tomorrow!"

Zhao Zhengyang paused, then looked at Su Yiming and the others, and continued, "Although the final spots for the winners' bracket have been decided, the spots for the losers' bracket have not yet been decided."

"The losers will have matches in the next two days. Although there is no time to rest, the good thing is that if they really make it to the finals, only one game is needed to determine the winner, without the need for more games."

"I sincerely hope that the players competing tomorrow and the day after will achieve good results and perform to their full potential!"

"I believe that the final result of this Phoenix Cup World Championship will not disappoint us!"

...

...

The winner of the Phoenix Cup World Championship upper bracket has finally been decided!

"The 50 Hands That Shocked the World! A Detailed Analysis of the Winners' Bracket Championship Battle!"

How to turn a losing position into a dragon-slaying victory in fifty moves! Unpredictable and masterful moves!

How did he go from a high school Go league champion to a world championship winner in just two years? A retrospective of a national champion's life!

Who will ultimately claim the loser's bracket championship? Let's wait and see!

...

With the conclusion of today's round of matches, countless reports and articles have sprung up on the internet like mushrooms after rain, causing a sensation and heated discussion across the entire network, and related topics have even topped the trending searches!

Although the other two games also caused quite a stir, the most attention was naturally focused on the final of the winners' bracket, namely the game between Yu Shao and Araki.

The most talked-about part of this game was, of course, Yu Shaoyi's fifty-odd moves, which were described as "unpredictable and unpredictable"!

These fifty-odd moves caused a huge sensation in just one hour, with countless professional and amateur players providing detailed analyses and replays.

On the well-known Go forum "Zongheng Tiandi", some people even praised it highly.

"I don't know if anyone will be able to play this kind of move in the future, but I can say for sure that no one has ever been able to play this kind of move before. Shen Yi couldn't, Matsushita Ichiro couldn't, and Yasuhiro couldn't! These fifty-odd moves surpass all the variations that humans have ever played in Go before!"

This post quickly garnered numerous replies. Such posts can be considered inflammatory, and usually, the comments section is full of insults, but this time there were none.

Below the post, there were only a series of replies such as "Sparrow Master", "My mother asked me why I was kneeling to watch Go", "Araki-sensei calculated the ko more than 50 moves in advance, no wonder he lost", and "Even if I lost, I would have my head held high".

In fact, even if we disregard those fifty-odd moves and only look at the rest of the game, it is still a very exciting game. However, all the other brilliant moves and contests were overshadowed by the brilliance emanating from those fifty-odd moves!

No--

Or rather, all the games played by human players before were overshadowed by the brilliance of these fifty-odd moves!

(End of this chapter)